Europe on five projections
Europe covers 5,939,872 km² of ground. Mercator draws it 3.18 times over. Area and shape readings on all five projections, each one measured.
3.18 times
Europe's anchor sits at 51.7° N and Mercator draws its area 3.18 times over, the second highest of the six continents. Equirectangular gives 1.70, Natural Earth 1.37. Same ground, same true area, three maps, three answers.
Oceania is actually larger
Oceania covers 8,520,762 km² against Europe's 5,939,872 - it is 1.43 times the size. Mercator draws Europe bigger. That is the kind of lie this site is about: not an estimate that is a little off, but an ordering that is the wrong way round.
This object
- True area
- 5,939,872 km²
- Anchor latitude
- 51.7° N
- Angular radius
- 29.1°
- Draggable latitude range
- -70.1° … 56.2°
On five projections
Each number is measured against its own projection's equator, not against another projection. These five rows do not share an axis - they are five answers to the same question: what did this map give up to lay this place flat?
| Projection | Area distortion | Shape distortion |
|---|---|---|
| Equirectangular | 1.70 | 1.61 |
| Mercator | 3.18 | 1.00 constant |
| Natural Earth | 1.37 | 1.27 |
| Equal Earth | 1.00 constant | 1.30 |
| Gall-Peters | 1.00 constant | 1.30 |
Mercator inflates it most, 3.18 times over. Equirectangular stretches it most: its long axis is 1.61 times its short one.
The same size, drawn otherwise
Nothing in the catalogue is close to Europe's area at a far enough latitude to be worth the comparison.
Bigger than the map admits
These cover more ground than Europe and Mercator draws them smaller anyway.
- Oceania: Oceania is truly 1.43 times larger, and Mercator still draws this one 1.49 times bigger.
On an equal-area projection this section is empty, for every object there is. An equal-area map draws in proportion to true area, so it cannot draw a larger thing smaller. That is a definition, not a coincidence.
Open it in the tool
Drag Europe across the latitude bands and the readout follows.